Bermard Mariette, president and CEO of Coalision, has acquired a 21 percent stake in the Montreal apparel company through his Pelican fund. A former president of Quiksilver, Mariette took the helm at Coalision in 2009 to direct growth of its Lolë, Orage, and Paradox brands. His investment will be used primarily to pursue the international and retail development, particularly at Lolë, a fast growing women’s apparel brand.


“Pelican has not simply injected money in Coalision, but it also brings talented, passionate and engaged investors that share our sport and well-being and lifestyle focused culture,” said Bernard Mariette. “I have learned through the years that the recipe for success is the magic between the shareholders, managers, employees, and the challenges to come. I am very lucky to have assembled the ingredients for this recipe at the heart of Coalision and Pelican.”


Among the shareholders of Pelican, Olaf Guerrand, member of the Hermes family and administrator of the group in France and the United States joins the Coalision board of directors. He sees in the Lole brand a unique potential and one that rests on the strong well-being trend. “Ever since I have known Bernard I completely share his vision of the evolution of the sports and well-being market, and I am convinced of the potential that Lolë has.”


The majority owners of Coalision, Kilmer, as well as the founders of Coalision, remain investors in the company: “Coalision is developing very fast and it is important to team up with the best possible partners,” said Marie-Claude Boisvert, manager at Kilmer. “We believe in Lolë, Bernard’s leadership, and the team that is developing the Coalision brands. We are delighted to include new partners who are of the quality of the partners of Pelican.”


Orage and Lolë are distributed throughout a network of more than 2500 retailers in Canada, USA, Europe and Asia.